Paga-Ri-Flore-Roma

In short, all of the adventures I've had these past two weeks.

I flew into Bologna from Paris and found myself up a creek without a paddle having missed my train. Luckily, I met two guys on the flight (an Argentinian and an Italian) who were kind enough to drive me the hour drive to Rimini. It was a comical flight; as you know I speak French and English, whereas these two gentlemen spoke Italian and Spanish. No common language meant relying on what little (and I mean little) knowledge I still retained on Spanish and theirs on English. It was great to meet them both- very sweet and friendly. I also met another ultimate team based in Paris during my flight. I think I will start playing with them this upcoming week!

The hotel I stayed at was beautiful, but Paganello was so special because my teammates were such exceptional people. Girl Drink Drunk (my team) was comprised of players from all over the world, I like to refer to as the UN actually. And it was such a great tournament. 4 days of crazy beach ultimate- 5 crazy parties that ended around 8am and a team full of wonderful people. I saw some incredible beach ultimate, met the author of one of my favorite ultimate books, met the creaters of FiveUltimate (a big brand of ultimate gear), and played some decent ultimate myself. I can honestly say it was one of the best experiences of my life. I was so impressed by the sheer numbers of players- over 1,500! I can't quite explain how silly and crazy my team was, but I recommend you check out facebook pictures if you're interested in a visual aid.

Then I moved on to Florence that Tuesday with one of my teammates Peter, a Chicagoan! We situated ourselves in a very swanky hotel (only for one night though) and then he moved on. In Florence I saw two replicas of Michaelango's David, Il Duomo (a gorgeous cathedral) and adored the beautiful architecture. It seems as though the city itself has progressed into the 21st century, but the buildings themselves savor the traditional architecture of the 1700s. Very beautiful. I had the lucky chance of meeting an excellent gentleman from Holland over my trip and we found a high point in the city overlooking all of Florence. Later on in the trip I also met another Paganello player from San Diego- very cool guys.

Moving (quickly) onto Rome, I met up with a high school friend who is originally German but is currently studying there in Rome. Worked out well for me, I was happy to see my friend, and he was kind enough to show me Rome and the Vatican City. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the Vatican City because my camera batteries died! Unlucky huh? But I got great shots of the Pantheon and the Colosseum. It's always such a shocker when, after studying these huge monuments in school, you finally witness them for yourself. Quite a shock!

Gelato itself deserves its own paragraph. It is God's greatest gift to humankind (and the greatest curse to my waistline). However, it is an incredibly delicious dessert. I credit the best gelato I had to that I ate in Rimini... Stratiacella (or something) forever! Thankfully they don't have gelato like that in Paris because I would immediately substitute for all of my meals and be happy gaining 2390721 pounds!

Although I enjoyed my Italian vacation I was just happy to come back to Paris. I was homesick for Paris, forgive me for saying so, but I have really discovered my nitch here, at least for this point in my life. I can't be happier to be back. I'm getting ready for a dinner party tonight with some friends I haven't seen in a while (the two weeks I've been gone) and just feel happy to be back in my element.

I miss everybody from home, as well. There's nothing like home and hugs, but I find it easy to be apart because I remember something that my Daddy has told me since the day he started traveling. "I don't miss you because I take you with me everywhere I go in my heart". And that's exactly where you all are, in my heart.